The Bottom Line: $250K debt still owed to county for Electra police services

Editor's Note: This is the first installment of The Bottom Line, a Times Record News special series published five days a week from Jan. 31 to Feb. 25.

The city of Electra still owes Wichita County more than $250,000 for staffing its law enforcement operations after the city's police force staged a walk-out in 2013, a county financial document shows.

Turmoil at the police department, coupled with the unceremonious firing of police chief Johnny Morris, resulted in the resignation of most of Electra's police officers, leaving the city with virtually no law enforcement presence. An interlocal agreement, which required Electra to completely reimburse the county for assuming its patrol and dispatch services, was struck later that year.

But more than two years later, only about half of the balance owed to the county has been repaid, though the city of Electra is scheduled to complete payment on the debt in 2018.

'It was an expensive process and it was pretty taxing on our people to do all of those hours,' Wichita County Judge Woody Gossom said, adding that deputies' work was billed as overtime because he didn't want to leave other areas of the county unprotected by shifting law enforcement presence to Electra. 'For what (the city of Electra) expected, it would have left areas of the county significantly uncovered. We couldn't do that to our taxpayers.'

The Bottom Line, a Times Record News special series, examines local city, county and school district finances to explain how your money is collected and spent. Previous stories and interactive content can be found at timesrecordnews.com/TRNinvestigates.

The contract between Electra and the Wichita County originally was for 90 days with an option of a 90-day extension, records show. But after a mass exodus from the department including officers and dispatchers, then-police chief Johnny Morris was ousted at a city council meeting, extending the agreement – and the costs associated with it – indefinitely.

The county eventually floated Electra's police department for about 10 months.

An annual financial report produced by the county shows that the sheriff's office racked up more than $500,000 in expenses by providing the services. Along with additional gasoline and diesel costs, the report cites extended overtime as a primary expense.

County overtime costs made a 'staggering' jump in 2013 from the previous year, increasing from $480,000 in 2012 to $820,000 in 2013, the report says. More than half of the rise was attributed to the interlocal agreement.

'We didn't want to compromise from what (sheriff's employees) were already being paid to do, so their time was all at overtime,' Gossom said. 'That was all that was available.'

As of this year, Electra has paid back roughly $250,000 of the balance, leaving about the same amount outstanding. Gossom said that after the initial agreement ended, the cash-strapped city tried to negotiate for a six-year repayment period.

'They originally wanted six years, and I said, 'that's not really workable.' I said, 'We didn't go into this with the idea that we were going to finance this for y'all,'' the judge said. 'So we sat down with the new mayor and the interim city manager, and we said OK, let's figure out what we can do to get this paid.'

Eventually the two parties settled on a plan in which Electra pays $100,000 to the county per year in two installments. The most recent payment was made in early January.

In a brief telephone interview, Electra city administrator Steve Bowlin told the Times Record News, 'it's a debt and we're working to pay it off.'

Though Gossom said he intends to make sure the county collects the money it's owed, he emphasized the importance of governmental entities working together to ensure the safety and prosperity of their shared territory.

'That's a relationship of governments — our job is to figure out what we can do to help them,' he said.

In the time since the reformation of Electra's police department, the city hired, then fired, police chief Michael Hopkins. In an interview last year, the city's mayor would not specify why Hopkins was terminated.

Michael Dozier, formerly a lieutenant with the police department, was recently named the new chief.

The Bottom Line is a Times Record News-exclusive series where we examine local city, county and school district finances to explain how your money is being collected and spent. This series is published in print Sunday – Thursdays and is available online at timesrecordnews.com/trninvestigates through February 25, 2016.